Abstract

This article presents the characteristics of the resource base of building sands within the three Podillya regions, the patterns of sands distribution, and proposals for increasing the extraction of raw materials . The construction sands of Podillya are confined to the Upper Cretaceous, Neogene and Anthropogenicdeposits. The decrease of the thickness of the sandy strata of the Opilsk Neogene suite in the eastern direction was observed with the simultaneous increase in the thickness of the overlapping strata of the rocks. There is no apparent correlation between the thickness of sandy interlayers and the quality of sands. The interdependence of the chemical composition of Neogene sands and the sand size module is established.The genetic predisposition for the distribution of building sands in different parts of the Podillya territory has been established. Four groups of sand deposits of different age have been identified within the Podillya regions, which contrast sharply with single deposits in the neighbouring territories.There is a very uneven distribution of explored reserves of sandy raw materials across the region and accordingly in the provision of construction sands in the different oblasts /regions of Podillya. The areas best provided with sandy raw materials are the central districts of Ternopil region and Slavutsky district of Khmelnytsky region . Sands of the Baltic stage distributed in Vinnytsia region are mostly poor in quality, clogged with clay material and require enrichment. The further development of the mineral raw material base and the prospects for increasing the production of construction sand in the Podillya regions is associated with the increase in production at the prepared deposits, the commissioning of reserve deposits, the conducting of prospecting and exploration work in the proposed potentially exploitable areas and additional exploration of individual deposits that are exploited. The research allows us to evaluate objectively the existing base of sand raw materials for various purposes in the Podillya region and to develop on this basis measures to increase it. The importance of the study is determined by the acute shortage of the raw material in most administrative districts of Khmelnytsky and Vinnytsia regions, by the growth in the volume of construction work (and accordingly the requirements for sandy raw materials) both in Podillya and in the country.